There are no sure things in baseball, where any team can beat any other team on any given day. But as they open a four-game series in Houston tonight, the Nationals probably can't help but believe they should be heavily favored to win each night. The Astros, to put it bluntly, are a train wreck, having blown up their roster over the last month and gone almost entirely with kids in advance of their relocation to the AL next season. This team is 3-21 since July 8.

A Nationals club that opens the final third of the regular season on pace to win 97-98 games will send Edwin Jackson to the mound for the series opener. They'll field what figures to be their regular lineup for the next three weeks or so, with Kurt Suzuki behind the plate, Jayson Werth in the outfield and Danny Espinosa and Steve Lombardozzi manning the middle infield positions.

Though they claimed Cesar Izturis off waivers from the Brewers today, the veteran infielder has not arrived in Houston yet, so the Nats may have to play a man down in this game. Mark DeRosa has been placed on the DL with an abdominal strain.

I'm not in Houston for this series, but I will be heading to Phoenix for this weekend's series. In the meantime, enjoy tonight's game and the conversation…

NatsFanSinceStart said…Anyone heard any talk at all about the Nats plans (or no plans) to re-sign LaRoche. I've heard nor read a thing about it.==========================There have been a couple of posts on the 'Other Nats Blogs' to which this site links; I don't recall exactly where/when. It's going to be a more complicated decision than many people anticipate, getting into questions about Michael Morse's future, plans for CF/leadoff, Tyler Moore's future, etc.

Zection 3, My Zofa said… Oh, where's your spirit of adventure, Gonat?: ) August 06, 2012 11:05 PM __________________________________Davey didn't go double barrell and played these guys like chumps in the 6th.After Altuve walked and stole. He needed to go to the rightie then and not Gorzo or used a LOOGY appearance from MGonzalez for the lefty. The scouting report on Maxwell is clear. Don't have him face a LH reliever.This time Davey went with Storen. It didn't work but it was the right matchup this time.Should be a 4-1 or 4-2 game worst case at this point.

OK gang, before the Nats fall behind, I gotta ask, has anyone noticed how while the Braves are easily putting way teams like the Marlins and Phillies and Astros, the Nats have to make two near-miraculous comebacks to beat the Brewers and Marlins and now, after having outhit the Astros something like 11 to 2 at one point, are struggling to stay ahead? Of course you've noticed. The question is–why? Still young, still learning, still not enough clutch hitters, all of the above?

Zection 3: Nah, Storen was mad that his sliders were 2 feet off the plate. It looked like the ump missed one strike.McCatty was giving him major grief about something, though. Maybe, 'grow up, a little'?

Lol..you really can hear the Echo..I dont want to say the attendance is low, but instead of a PA guy, they players just go in the stands and introduce themselves to the fans personally…"Hello, I'm Ryan, I'll be playing 3B"…

Gonat and NatsFanSinceStart, Maxwell did play on the Maryland Patriots, which was an AAU team primarily put together by one of the heads of BCC Baseball. Though Max played with the Patriots, technically an independent AAU team primarily made up of MCBA players, he never actually played for BCC Baseball's MCBA team. One of the Patriots biggest accomplishments was winning the prestigious " Beast of the East" Tournament. I have never mentioned it here before, but my son also played on the Patriots, and BCC's MCBA team.

Zofa, first of all, Nats offense only getting 4 runs off of these chumps stinks and that 6th inning handling up 4-0 wasn't handled well.Could be going back to the hotel winning 4-2 or 4-3 now.Just sayin'

Nats212 said… Im no doom and gloom, but why did clippard take so long to use his FB? August 06, 2012 11:48 PM ________________________________________A good question that I'm sure will be asked by the reporters after the game..My guess is it's the Scouting Report on the Astros hittersBlown Saves happen to everyone, Clipp's good has far outweighed his bad. Way too soon to pull him from the role..

Secret wasian man said… we play to the level of competition. August 06, 2012 11:47 PM ________________________________It happens. A "W" against a lousy team counts the same as a "W" against a great team.Shouldn't come down to this.

I thought the Astros bullpen was suppose to be terrible. We haven't come close to a hit against them. Our bullpen outside of Mattheus have all pitched terrible. I wish Clippard would pitch a lot more fast balls. they were all good, and his change up caused nothing but problems eexcept right after a fast ball. He never did figure that out.

Secret wasian man said… wow! are guns are really crushing today. NOT Just lose already. Total dissapointment. August 06, 2012 11:50 PM ______________Help me out here, Do you want the Nats to win, or do you want them to lose?? Getting hard to tell…

Secret wasian, what's with you? Just making stuff up? Why? What's the point? Just to annoy?Clippard went 123 for a ninth inning save 4 times in the last two weeks: July 24, 25, 28, and again just last Sunday, Aug 3

swift, i don't think we should take him out of the closer role, I just don't get it. that change up to altuve was stupidy, he had just made a great change up down in the zone, the obvious thing was…go heater up!

If this turns into one of those 17-inning games, two questions:– Which position player (currently on the field, obviously) ends up pitching an inning?– Which starting pitcher comes in to play outfield?

I agree, Clipp's performance/pitch selection should be questioned…but some of the dopes on here are ready to throw him off the team…Clipp has been one of the best closers in the NL all season, and they all blow saves sometimes….

Swift Eagle: Definitely Mr. Strasburg to the OF, both for his bat and because he just pitched yesterday.Mr. LaRoche is out of the game, so he can't pitch. Maybe Bryce Harper? Don't know if anyone else has any experience, but it can't really be any of the infielders, as there's no one to take their positions.

The Astros tried to give us a second run, but we had 3 batters (the first two who refused to accept it).When a man is on third no out, you do not wing at the first pitch unless you can elevate it to the outfield. Not only did Lombo chip the first pitch into the group Tracy did too. Any pitch you chopped into the group cannot be elevated so you had no business swing at it. That to me is poor hitting and not thinking at all.Espinosa did his usual thing swung hard and this time made no contact on strike 3.

I hate to admit it, but the Legion of Doom made some good points tonight… Some questions need to be asked to the bullpen guys about the pitch selection…A lot of nibbling and off-speed stuff against a really bad team…

I am not throwing Clip under the bus. He has been reasonably reliable less os lately.However you cannot throw a change up until you throw some fast ball.s His fast ball was his best pitch tonight, and he was afreaid to use it for some reason.

Lombo and Tracy's at bats concern me with zero out sanda runner at third.also, I told some of you that we would always see the Shark late in the game. He had a big hit, great base running and a great play in the field. this is a great role for the shark

That was one wacky game. I switched over to watch some Olympics so was behind on the DVR and had to bow out of watching the comments here or following Twitter. Pretty tough to do, but I'm glad I did it because to fully enjoy that game winning run, you had to be surprised by it. It was like little league out there, so totally bizarre I still can't quite believe it happened. I will take this crazy win and hope the guys take it as a sign that nothing is going to be easy, even against the lowly Astros.

I really thought I could just ignore it and go to sleep. Not. I will pay for this tomorrow. I believe someone posted earlier that this team was basically a AAA team. O really? Maybe they will get a little more up tomorrow. Wake up call? But then again, they had lots of hits, pitchers only gave up four in 11. Great July, awkward August so far. Hate seeing our pitchers have to struggle with a new catcher from waaay outside the organization , division and league.

Thanks, Sunshine. Just win, baby.Since July 5 the Braves are 22-7 and the Nats are 19-11.Both of these dandy teams must be frustrated that they can't run away with this thing.Think of what's at stake. One of these clubs will line up its pitchers for a playoff series. The other will put a great season on the line in a one-game playoff.Gotta get that division title.

We had 14 hits, 8 more than them, they had 3 errors,and we out scored them by one run? Surreal!===================Yes, but the Nats' 14 hits were all singles. Astros had 12 total bases, given a double, triple, and HR (plus five singles).

Eugene,That's why batting avg. is an overrated statistic. Drew,Can the Braves continue to win at at 75% clip?If they do I tip my hat to them. The Nat's are playing at a 63% clip which is at least close to their record.

Fox,Exactly. And I've got to believe that the Nats — who are solidly in the upper half of the NL in doubles, HRs, and SLG% — will do better in the rest of this series.Concur on the winning-percentage point; the Braves' recent hot streak is not sustainable through September.

One last thing before bed. Was the official scorer Suzuki mother? That had to be a FC. FP saw it, Bernie was dead at second if someone threw it there instead of down the first base line. I guess the official scorer did not want to tack on another error. I don't think I've seen anything like that even from the Nat's in the lean years.

Just for the record Nats Lady complained "he didn't try and get out of the way/" That was the hut by pitch in the 9th by Clippard. According to the rule book you do not have to get out of the way. it only sayd you cannot ,ove to get in the way. Says nothing about moving to get out of the way. One of those myths we always hear about.That is why I always complain when a hitter having trouble gets out of a breaking balls way. Just stand there and get hit.

And the Barves keep on winning. But at least they don't go to bed happy after they check the Nats score.There is some seriously strange mojo going on lately. Those chicken sacrificer people might want to get going again. I know on paper it looks fine when you see four out of five, but if you are watching, then you know that's it's been quite an adventure. And against losing teams, too. Late night – wide awake and Arizona and SanFransisco in our future. ugh. Go Nats!!

Catching up from the west coast. 1. When the game was over, we had one more than they did. That's what matters.2. In 1983, the Tigers and the Orioles were locked in a similar pennant race. The Tigers went 22-10 over their last 32 games. It should have been good enough, right? Wrong. The O's went 29-3. As a former Tigers fan, it still hurts.3. Zim moved to 3rd at UVa because of Mark Reynolds, not the other way around.4. Calling the Astros a AAA team is an insult to every guy on their roster. They are in the big leagues. Treat them with respect. If you put the Astros in the International League, they win the pennant going away. They are not a great team, but don't say ridiculous things about them.5. Rendon won't find the AFL much of a challenge? Are kidding me? The AFL has the best prospects in MLB. He won't even be among the best five players on his own team. The idea that a guy takes 100 minor league ABs and is ready to dominate the AFL is ludicrous.That is all.

According to the rule book you do not have to get out of the way. it only says you cannot move to get in the way. Says nothing about moving to get out of the way. Right. Remember that walk off HBP by Gomes against the Phillies last year? He stood there and let the ball hit him in the arm and then gave a look at Lidge like "you stupid idiot." Classic.

Official rulePer baseball official rule 6.08(b), a batter becomes a baserunner and is awarded first base when he or his equipment (except for his bat): is touched by a pitched ball outside of the strike zone, and he attempts to avoid it (or had no opportunity to avoid it), and he did not swing at the pitch.[1]If all these conditions are met, the ball is dead, and other baserunners advance if they are forced to vacate their base by the batter taking first. Rule 5.09(a) further clarifies that a hit by pitch is also called when a pitch touches a batter's clothing.[2]In the case where a batter swings and the pitch hits him anyway, the ball is dead and a strike is called.[3] If the batter does not attempt to avoid the pitch, he is not awarded first base, and the pitch is ruled either a strike if in the strike zone or a ball if out of the strike zone. In practice, umpires rarely make this call.